1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of sharing data over a network, having a plurality of network connected terminals, each comprising memory means and processing means, said memory means including instructions for managing object duplication.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data sharing applications for the distribution of and access to said data over LAN-type networks (Local Area Network) and, more recently, the Internet have been widely developed. Indeed, the very idea of networks is for networked users to be able to exchange data other than via external medium, for instance floppy disks. In a typical situation, a user accesses data located on a server, itself located either on a LAN or on the Internet, and locally peruses said data, which is shared over said LAN or the Internet by other users, be it for recreational or for professional use. However, this approach is invariably based on a method of sharing data over a network according to instructions for managing data or object distribution. In essence, a user accesses data which is not local, peruses said data locally, but said data or object remains located remotely. As a result, should the networked server or network computer become unavailable over said network, for instance if it experiences a malfunction and crashes, said data becomes immediately unavailable and the user looses any information or subsequent modifications to said data.
Sharing data over a network thus suffers from an inherent instability that may result in lost or corrupted data and information. The present state-of-the-art in data sharing over networks does not remedy this inherent instability other than by resorting to backing-up said data and, should a malfunction corrupt or erase said data, subsequently restoring said data from said last known validated back-up. This last action usually requires manual or automated instructions, knowing that said automated instructions also have to be initially manually set-up.